Drove this time machine on 100 miles yesterday. This was a great motoring experience.

This is a 100% original unrestored Citroën Traction Avant with 500 000 miles on it.
The patina is fantastic and despite it is a late 1955 built, this time machine brings you strait in the thirties when it was initialy designed.

Three manual gears with only two synchronized...
2 liters engine with 56 hp... where are those hidden ?
Drum brakes ...
You have to relearn driving.

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Very cool. I drove a Ford Model A one time.... What a work out! Brakes, clutch, steering, etc.were all very primitive by today's standards.

A beautiful car, excellent condition considering 500k miles. It looks like it has semaphores? It would be interesting to compare the mechanical components to our 1930's US cars.

My dad used to have one of these, he thought it had fantastic road-hoalding..., he also had one of the first DS 19 in the UK...

This car had very advanced technology and features for it's time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citro%C3%ABn_Traction_Avant

From the first built in 1934 it already had:

- Monocoque structure (no subframe) this means the car is light and has very low center of gravity.
- Front wheel drive,
- Independant suspension with torsion bars all around
- Hydraulic brakes
- suspended engine
Car had excellent handling and was later available with a more powerfull six cylinder engine.
The only thing that was outdated was the gearbox. They wanted to put an automatic but didn't had time to finish the developpement.

Reminds me of the 1952 Renualt 4CV I had in high school in Kaiserslautern, Germany in 1963. Dad stuffed a Gordini R8 engine in it. It was fun sucking up VW Bugs.

I admit: I'm a Citroen fun and love this car. Somehow, Citroen manages to distinct their cars in every generation. My grandfather had a Traction Avant back when he was fighting in French resistance. My cousin still has his 1973 DS. I had a ZX Vulcan, a Xantia, a C5, a Visa. My folks have a C3 now.

Neat car, indeed.

Whenever I see one, I am afraid that all the stereotypes that I associate with it come to mind......Gauloises, berets, the resistance.

It must have been a fun trip to have driven one.

Paul